Changes allowing Ontario to hand over Crown land to companies ‘snuck in’ to Liberal budget: watchdog

TORONTO — Ontario’s governing Liberals have “snuck in” changes that are dismantling environmental protections and could have “disastrous results” for the province, environmental commissioner Gord Miller said Thursday.

Changes in last year’s budget gives the government the power to hand over Crown land — which makes up 87% of the province — to companies from the hands of the Ministry of Natural Resources, he said.

“Why would they change it to allow the cabinet of Ontario, by regulation, to hand that responsibility over to an independent third party?” Miller said after releasing his annual report.

“It could be anybody. It could be any kind of corporate entity. … There’s a lot of wealth, a lot at stake here.”

It’s “galling” that those major changes, which should be of particular concern to northern Ontario residents, were shielded from public scrutiny, he said. They were in the 2012 budget bill, which is exempt from a requirement for the government to post environmentally significant decisions.

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Miller’s annual report also slammed the Liberals for gutting the ministry through budget cuts and regulatory changes that weaken important safeguards for provincial parks, species at risk and hunting.

Cuts to regulations, staff and programs at the ministry are “short-sighted and regressive” and pose significant ecological risks, he said. It could have “disastrous results” for Ontario’s natural heritage and disrupt the way of life in the north.

“We’re talking about handing over this land to third parties over which we have no control,” Miller said. “So it’s profound change on the highest level.”

His report warns that major industrial development in Ontario could proceed almost unchecked, provincial parks are being turned into revenue streams, and there’s no funding or plan to deal with invasive species like the emerald ash borer and the Asian carp.

There’s no formal environmental monitoring for Ontario’s far north, despite intensive mineral exploration and development around the Ring of Fire, Miller said.

Ontario spends less of its total budget on natural resource management and environmental protection than five other provinces, he noted.

“When we start to treat nature and species like a bunch of widgets in a factory, we’ve completely lost sight of what’s truly important for our communities and our very identity as Ontarians,” Miller said in a statement.